Happy Holidays to one and all

WET AND WINDY--As this weekend before Christmas winds down, we are having some very wet and windy conditions, so in other words, normal weather just before the Christmas holiday. It seems when we all want to do that last minute shopping, the weather is more like "stay at home" weather, which with Covid going around, is so fitting. However, there appears to be a few days of drier weather before the rain returns, which could mean some freezing, so let's hope folks don't get caught off guard by the dryness and forget about the possibility of some frozen patches of highway here and there.

HAZARDOUS TRAVEL--As many of you have probably heard by now, SR 4 between Cathlamet and Longview had some of its usual issues this past weekend, when rocks came down near Nassa Point, and a tree had come down not far from that and then about milepost 43, a much larger slide blocked the highway for a bit. Thankfully, crews got right on it, and set up lights in order to have one way traffic moving while they worked on it, and things were getting cleaned up by late afternoon.

If you're new to the area, keep this sort of thing in mind, as it's pretty common and just one more reason not to go zipping along at night on that stretch of road, as one never knows what might be right around the corner.

BE AWARE--If you're just trying to get your bearings around the area and are using SR 4 very much, it would be wise to make note of where the different MP markers are, and that way when folks are telling you where the bad areas are, you'll have a better idea of where the issues are taking place. Examples going East: MP 29 is here in front of the Skamokawa Store; MP 38 is by "Flandersville" or West/Little Cape Horn area; MP 45 is on the last curve as you get to County Line Park; MP 49 by Bunker Hill; MP 50 sharp corner before Stella and MP 51 past Stella and just past the big waterfall. This is always useful in case you need some help and you could relate to officials where you are located and you'd get the help you need much faster.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Dec. 24-30 are Garrett McClain, Ken Nickolaus, John Hoven Jr., Libby Thomas Ravander, Nancy Bielman, Cayln Fritzie, Donald Cooper, Grant Turner, Kohl Bergseng, Kyla Gribskov, Dan Bardsley, Michele Smith, Marja Ringen, Steve Smith, Alex Everman, Megan Elliott, Matt Kuhl, Mason Davis, Skylor Grasseth, Adrienne Foster, Tony Danker, Terry Cleveland, Aubree Thomason, Ron Wika, Dennis Mueller, Patrick Olson, Kole Langston, Dylon Ravander, Arve Ronninghaug, Toby Bell, Frank Pedersen, Luke Pedersen and Ron Pedersen.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Orville Lindsey, Mr. and Mrs. Pat Thacker, Mr. and Mrs. Larry Johnson and Mr. and Mrs. Mark Helms. May you all enjoy your special birthday and anniversary celebrations this coming week!

NEW ADDITION--It's been quite a year for "pandemic babies" for the Pedersen family this year, as we have now welcomed the fourth baby into our family, and after three boys, we now have a girl; yay! We want to offer our heartiest congratulations to Mark Pedersen, as he became a grandpa once again when his youngest son, Jonas and wife, Bo Fu, welcomed their first child, little Lucy, into the world on Dec. 11. I wouldn't say she was really too little though as she weighed in at eight pounds and three ounces, so she was definitely a nice size baby. With the new family living back in Illinois, the only way we're going to get to know them is via the internet pics, but for now, we'll take what we can get. Congratulations to the new parents!

THINKING OF THEM--We want to keep Debbie Beebe Olson in our thoughts as she continues to recover from her surgeries and Philomena Thomas, who hasn't been feeling a hundred percent lately, and also friend, Sandi Cik who had to have some surgery recently. May they all continue to heal and progress in the right direction.

LOSSES--Sadly there have been many folks who are dealing with the losses of dear friends and also many with the loss of family members so we want to send our condolences to all those who've received that sad news recently. Some of those who have lost someone are the Johnsons, the Palmers, the McClains, the Shrums and others, so our sympathies to all who are dealing with their losses during the holiday season, which is really heart wrenching. Having lost my Dad on Christmas Day years ago, I can relate.

BIG WIN--It was great news for the Lewis-Clark Warriors Women's basketball team this week, as well as the family of Peyton Souvenir, as the Warriors pulled a huge upset when they overtook No. 6 rated Carroll College, and guess who was the top scorer? Yep, Peyton; woo-hoo! It was a shakey start for the team but in the second half, they roared back to life and took the win, 60 to 50, so it's another "local girl does good" kind of story! Of course, she's had quite a few of those stories and she certainly makes her folks, Todd and Kristen Souvenir, very proud. This win was extra special for them, as they got to attend this game, so that was awesome. As always, Peyton was super gracious in her comments after the game and definitely made sure everyone knew this was a team effort. Keep it up ladies; good job!

THIS IS IT--For those who are celebrating Christmas, it's here; tomorrow that is, if you're reading this on Thursday. Not everyone gets their paper at the same time though, but I'm guessing the majority do, so here's wishing you a Happy Christmas Eve tonight and a very Merry Christmas tomorrow! May you be blessed, not by what you receive this year, but by what you gave, as surely that act of goodwill and kindness will come back to benefit you ten-fold. Take care and enjoy!

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1950, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very nice days, but after that, the rains returned. During those warmer days however, many people, like our State Representative, Julia Butler Hansen, discovered juicy, ripe raspberries in her garden. She also said that her violets, snapdragons and primroses were in bloom, so a lot of the local folks were commenting on how their flowers were a bit mixed up! William Canham on Puget Island, said his Easter Lily was blooming, so yep, it was definitely confused! The Krist Pedersens, the George Everests, the Leon Healys and Grandma Elsie Everest all met over the holidays to enjoy a get together. The kids spent time in Grandpa Ralph Everest's room as he was still in bed, but he got a kick out of watching the kids open their presents there. Grandma Elsie had been on vacation but went back to work in the telephone office a little early as on Dec. 30, Flora Tonkin's Dad was taken to the hospital.

This week back in 1955, it was wet every day except for one. The George Everests hosted Christmas in Longview that year and the whole family was there, except for Ralph Pedersen who was in the Navy, and R. Marshall Everest Jr. who lived back in Minnesota. Later that week, Ralph and Elsie Everest traveled up north to visit her sister, Jean Shane and husband, Frank and together they would celebrate their anniversaries on the same day. The Everests were celebrating 42 years together and the Shanes were celebrating 30.

All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries.